Mar 09

Mark Zuckberg, The Action Figure

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, Weird News

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He looks really familiar, doesn’t he? I know I’ve seen him somewhere before. Maybe he’s just got one of those faces. I’m sure M.I.C. wouldn’t steal someone’s likeness for their “Poking Inventor” action figure. That would be wrong. Especially after the Chinese company was on the wrong side of an Apple lawsuit after offering the world a Steve Jobs action figure.
The sweatshirted/Adidas flipflopped figure comes with “Poke” and “Like” signs and a familiar little “F” logo that sits on the base. Like the Jobs figure, Poking Inventor also ships with a number of blank speech bubbles, so you can put words in his billion dollar mouth.
The figure runs $69.90, “while supplies last,” which almost certainly means, “until someone tips off Facebook’s lawyers.”
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Mar 09

Mark Zuckerberg’s Dog Can Have a Facebook Account, Chinese Activist Can’t

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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Talk about being a second class citizen. Billionaire puppies are apparently allowed to have their own Facebook pages–Chinese activists? Not so much. Michael Anti (real name Zhao Jing) complained to the press this week that the social network cut off his account earlier in the year, citing its strict no pseudonym policy. Mark Zuckerberg’s new puppy, Beast, on the other hand, got his own Facebook page earlier this week. 

“I’m really, really angry,” Anti told CNBC. “I can’t function using my Chinese name. Today, I found out that Zuckerberg’s dog has a Facebook account. My journalistic work and academic work is more real than a dog.”
Anti points out that the use of his real name makes it easier for him to be singled out by the Chinese government, a sentiment echoed by activists in a number of countries. The activist/blogger has been using his pseudonym for more than a decade to publish essays and articles.
Facebook hasn’t officially commented on the story. It did, however, state in an earlier e-mail to Anti, “We have tried to keep the rule simple and fair by saying personal profiles must always be set up in the real legal name of the individual concerned.”
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Mar 08

Environmental Group Mails “The Cove” to Everyone in Taiji, Japan

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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The Cove shocked the world when it hit theaters in 2009, with its graphic depiction of Dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.The film debuted in Japan last year, with the faces of Taiji fisherman edited out for anonymity. According to Japan Times, a number of theaters in the country canceled screening of the film after receiving threats from right wing groups.

An anonymous environmental group called People Concerned for the Ocean is working to further spread The Cove gospel, delivering dubbed Japanese copies of the movie to every home in the small town of Taiji. 
The film’s director, Louie Psihoyos, supports the cause, telling the press, “The people in Taiji deserve to know what millions of others around the world have learned about their town by seeing The Cove. “
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Mar 08

Facebook Getting Digital Movie Rentals

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Movies, Today's Chili
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Late last month, Amazon threw down the online movie gauntlet by offering free streaming to all Prime users. The retail giant still lacks the selection to make it a major player on that front, but the move was rightfully considered a warning shot against the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and, to a lesser degree, Apple.

Facebook is apparently dipping its multi-billion dollar toes in the water as well, thanks to a new deal with Warner Bros. The Dark Knight will be first movie to get the Zuckerberg treatment. Facebook users who have friended the superhero flick will get the chance to rent it through the site for 30 Facebook Credits ($3 USD).
The rental deal gives users 48 hours to watch the film on the site. Users will be able to pause the film and will also retain full Facebook functionality while the movie is running. Warner is using the film as a trial run, with the possibility of adding more titles in the future.
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Mar 08

Bill Gates Loses Richest Title After Giving Away Money

Posted in: Microsoft, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili
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Bill Gates is no longer the world’s richest man. And really, he’s only got himself to blame. The Microsoft founder slipped from the top spot last year, thanks to the massive sums of money he’s given away by way of his Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. In 2010, Gates slipped from the top spot for the second time since 1995, as Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim edged him out, $53.5 billion to $53 billion.

Forbes will release its annual list tomorrow. Slim will likely maintain the top spot, with $60 billion, with Gates in second at $49 billion. Investor Warren Buffet will round out the top three at $47 billion.
Gates and wife Melinda have already donated an impressive $28 billion of their fortune, putting them in second place on the list of “Most Generous Philanthropists” in America behind Buffett. Buffett, for his part, has given $8 billion to the Gates foundation and has promise to donate the majority of his wealth to charity. 
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Mar 07

Western Digital to Buy Hitachi GST for $4.3 Billion

Posted in: business, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

Western Digital Logo

Everyone debating whether Western Digital or Hitachi drives are better can stop arguing now: WD has dropped $4.3 billion in a combination of stock and cash to buy Hitachi GST and fold the two storage technology companies into one. The new company will retain the Western Digital brand, and keep most of its staff and its headquarters in Irvine, California, but Hitachi GST President and CEO Steve Milligan will get a new office as President of Western Digital. 
The new merged company hopes its combined resources will put it in a better position to scale and compete with their now chief rival: Seagate. It may not be Seagate the company will really have to contend with though: as SSDs and NAND based flash memory becomes more popular in desktop PCs, notebook computers, and tablets, traditional spinning hard drives may be on the way out both in consumer and enterprise applications. 
Still, hard drives aren’t going anywhere just yet, and Western Digital hopes that the new merger will give it a stronger foothold in enterprise storage while retaining its hold over consumer technology. 
[via Forbes]
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Mar 07

Mark Zuckerberg Gets a Puppy, The Puppy Gets Fan Page

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the cold businessman that The Social Network portrayed him as; here’s proof: he’s got a new, fluffy puppy. Zuckerberg just created a fan page to introduce his new puppy to the Facebook world. And OMG, is he cute! (The pup, I mean)

Beast is a Puli, a type of Hungarian Sheepdog, and his white fluffy adorableness has already drawn 2,817 likes as of this writing. The page lists Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan as the owners and features pictures of the two playing with little Beast.

Try not to click through all the cute, puppy pics. I dare you!

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Mar 07

Microsoft Wants the World to Stop Using IE6

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili

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Friday, Microsoft launched a countdown Web site to urge users to stop using IE6. According to the site, 12 percent of the world was still using IE6 in February. That’s down 9 percent from the previous year, but seriously, people, come on. What are you doing still using IE6?

EI6 is now a 10 year old browser–that’s beyond ancient in tech years. Microsoft’s goal is to get usage down below 1 percent, so developers can stop wasting time making sure Web sites support IE6. Currently, China is the biggest IE6 culprit at 34.5 percent. The USA is only at 2.9 percent, but still…update people!

In a time, when people are willing to chuck their perfectly good iPads because they’re a year old, and they want to upgrade to shiny, new iPad 2, it’s time to stop using a browser that is 10 years old. Microsoft says it’s time to say goodbye. It’s way past time.

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Mar 06

This Week’s Best YouTube Videos: Shuttle Launches, Tiger Blood, Robot Armor, Rick Rolls, and More

Posted in: Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, videos, YouTube

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The best that YouTube had to offer this week runs the gamut from a robotic exoskeleton that will either make your jaw drop in wonder and amazement (or creep you out) all the way up to a hilarious remix of the now infamous Charlie Sheen interview that will also get you up to speed on the whole Charlie Sheen thing if you haven’t been paying attention. 
That’s only the half of it, though. There’s a shuttle launch taken from a truly unique perspective in this week’s video lineup, a trailer for what could be the theatrical embodiment of every Internet meme ever seen, and more.
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Mar 04

Google Employees Use Android Phone to Launch Trebuchet

Posted in: Google, Miscellaneous Tech, Today's Chili, Weird News
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I recently had a debate with some friends. After some back and forth, we finally came to an agreement–the trebuchet is, in fact, the greatest medieval siege weapon. That important bit of nerd minutia out of the way, we move on to the next question: how to possibly improve on the engineering marvel that is the trebuchet? The answer should be simple, of course: Google Android.

A team of Google data center employees finally managed to combine the two, using an Android computer and Bluetooth receiver to trigger the device during the “Storm the Citadel Trebuchet Competition,” which occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, last weekend.
If all of the talk of engineering know how isn’t enough to win you over, how about this quote from data center employee, Eric Wages: “we’re playing real-life Angry Birds.” Of course, no one had the audacity to point out to Wages the difference between a trebuchet and a catapult. That’s for the best, really. If we begin squabbling amongst ourselves, the egg-stealing green pigs have already won. 
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